Duelist of the Roses: Destiny Reborn
by Kira-Tsukasa
Summary: It's been five years since Battle City and the threat of evil has been subdued. But when the light fades, will the heroes rise again? Or will darkness reign?
1. Chain of Memories

Well this is it, the sequel you've all been waiting for! It's been more than five years since Battle City ended and things have changed for Brian Matthews and his friends. In the first couple chapters I'll show you what they've been up to since then. I'll be in third person as much as possible for this story. Now for the legal mumbo jumbo.

I don't own the following: Yu-Gi-Oh, Charmed, Stargate SG-1, Gundam Seed, Cinderella, Star Wars, Star Trek, Twilight, Harry Potter, Digimon, Pokemon, Bakugan, Naruto, or their respective characters. (Note: this is _not_ a crossover of any kind, I'm just bad at names)(Note2: If I owned all that do you think I'd be writing fanfics or twisting the originals to my whim?)(Note3: No, I don't use references from all of them, it's a joke, sheesh)

I do own the following: Brian Matthews and the idea for this story.

I do pwn the following: All my friends at the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game.

Speech Key:  
"Regular Speech"  
_Thoughts  
_'_Telepathic Communication'  
_(Setting or Flashback Indication)

* * *

**Chapter 1: Chain of Memories**

(New York City, Matthews Inc. Building)

_Looks like we're going to have a lot of snow this year._

Brian Matthews looked out from the window of his office on the fifth floor of his corporation's main headquarters building. He watched the tiny white crystals slowly float down from the sky to the ground. It looked like there was already a good covering on the sidewalks. He sighed as he turned back to his desk and sat in the comfortable leather chair. On his desk sat a picture frame that held a picture of him and his friends from graduation day in Domino.

On the right was Tristan Taylor with Joey Wheeler in a head lock under his right arm. Both were laughing. It was, after all, the best day of high school. Next to them was Yugi Moto, who must have forgotten there was a picture being taken and had his head turned to the two goof balls, giving them a funny look. Yugi had grown quite a bit and was just as tall as Joey and looked a lot like Yami, except with a softer face. Brian smiled to himself as he moved his gaze to himself with his arm around the waist of his old girlfriend, Téa Gardner. She was smiling sweetly and had her head resting on his shoulder.

Brian's smile faded as he remembered how he had to leave them. It was only one week after that day in the picture when he received a letter informing him that his father's company was going under. At that time Matthews Inc. was producing computer programs for a top secret government organization. According to the letter, the organization had been recalled and the funding that was keeping the company running ceased. Brian had left his friends without much of a word. He was broken up about it enough and couldn't handle saying good-bye.

Rebuilding the company took almost a year and a half. During that time, Brian sold most of the company's assets in order to pay the debts and converted the company into a Duel Monsters card manufacturer. Only recently could the company stand on its own feet.

A sharp knock on his door brought him out of his reminiscence. A girl with long, light brown hair and eyes to match, walked quickly and confidently across the floor and stopped a foot away from the CEO.

"Mr. Matthews, I have the cards you requested for your inspection," the girl said.

"Please, _Miss Hensen_, there's no need for formalities," Brian responded.

"I apologize. I guess I'm still getting used to working for you," she continued. "It seems like only yesterday we were facing off in the Duel of the Roses tournament."

"Apologies, later, Melissa. Business, now," he told her. She handed him the cards that she promised. He looked over the pictures and read the text on each to make sure everything was correct. "Very nice. Send my thanks to Alexis and Jack for me."

"Of course," Melissa answered. "Oh, there's still the matter of the skeleton crews still around the buildings."

"Yours, Jack's, Alexis' departments, right?" he questioned. His colleague replied with a nod. "Send your crew on their vacation. Tell them to be ready for work at the end of January. Inform Jack and Alexis to do the same."

Melissa smiled, gave a curt nod, and walked briskly out the door. As she left, she pulled the door shut and Brian was left alone once more. Brian opened a drawer and took out eight envelopes. Into five of them he slipped one of the new cards that he held in his hand. Upon completing the task, he sealed them and set them back on the desktop.

_I wish I could see their faces when they get these._ He gazed thoughtfully at the items for a moment before gathering them up and leaving his office and walking quickly down the hall.

* * *

(Domino City, T&W Repair)

"Aw, that's too bad," Joey said into the phone. "You're gonna miss Yugi's party…I know, it can't be helped. See ya tomorrow, then, sis."

Joey returned the phone to it's place on the workbench and turned back to his partner, Tristan. Both were wearing dirty, dark blue coveralls with their logo on the back. Since high school ended they had done pretty well with their own automotive repair shop, which they managed to open on the outskirts of town.

"So, when's Serenity getting back?" Tristan asked as he wiped the grease off his hands with a rag.

"Not until tomorrow," Joey replied. "Some bad weather came through up there and they grounded all flights."

"That's shame. Your mom ought to move down here so she wouldn't have that problem," Tristan commented. "Heading over to Yugi's tonight?"

"I gotta run 'cross town and pick up Mai, but yeah, I'll be there," he answered. "It's the only time we all get together anymore. I'm not gonna miss it."

"I hear you," the other said. He had slipped into a heavy winter coat and was heading out the door. "Later, Joey."

Joey watched his friend leave and began putting his tools away. _This is going to be the third Christmas that Brian has missed. I wonder how he's doing…_

After completing his task, Joey pulled on his own coat and went out into the snow.

* * *

(Domino City, Millennium Games)

Yugi entered the game shop that he had taken control of after his grandfather passed away. Yugi wasn't much of a salesman and had entered into a partnership with an old friend named Duke Develin. Ever since Yami sealed himself in the Shadow Realm there hadn't been much to do, other than sell Duel Monsters and Dungeon Dice Monsters merchandise. The Millennium Items had been left behind, with their power transferred to Yami, and now resided in a display case in the shop. Yugi had decided to change the name of the place from just the simple Game Shop to Millennium Games. It had been Yugi's final tribute to his other half.

Yugi's stereo system spat out various holiday songs as the owner hummed in unison. He was signing the cards for his friends who were coming over for his yearly Christmas party. Last year's, he remembered, was less cheerful than the previous ones. Téa had been heart broken that Brian had left them and Joey and Tristan kept talking about everything they had done with him, which didn't help matters much. Duke, Mai, and Serenity had been there as well. Mai continuously talked about her clothing store on the other side of town while Duke drooled over Joey's little sister, even though she had been won over by Tristan.

_This year will be different…I hope._ Yugi tucked the cards into their envelopes and ran them into the adjoining part of the building, his house, and set them under the tree. He went back through the store section to a closet where he had the gifts hidden and carried them back to the tree. As he passed a certain display case, he saw some sort of light out of the corner of his eye. When he looked, the Millennium Bracelet was glowing softly.

"Huh? What in the world?" Yugi asked out loud. He blinked a couple times but when he looked again the glow was gone. He shook his head and continued on his way. "I must be seeing things…"

Yugi placed the gifts under the tree and continued his party preparations. _Téa hasn't been the same since school ended. I hope she's doing better now. She's been my friend longer than anyone else and it hurts me to see her sad like last year._

* * *

(Domino City, Téa's Apartment)

Téa dropped onto her bed and rested on the soft pillow under her head. She worked from seven in the morning until four in the afternoon and had spent half an hour walking home through four inches of snow. She was exhausted and her feet where nearly numb. She didn't _have_ to work today and her boss even told her that she should take a break. She had gone anyway, though. It was for the money. At the end of her senior year at Domino High, she found out that she had not won the scholarship for the New York Dance Academy. It was her dream to go and she saved money for three years to pay for expenses. She had everything she needed except for the hefty entry fee, which would have been covered by the grant. Her natural kindness worked wonders for her as a waitress, but the pay wasn't high enough and it was going to take quite a long time before she had enough money.

She sighed as she looked at the clock. Yugi's party was in an hour and a half and she was still in her work attire, which was accented for the holiday season. When she sat up, a hand painted, green robotic bird with glowing blue eyes flew to her and took a perch on her knee. It cocked its head at her and chirped a digital sound that sounded like it was saying "birdy" which was the only sound it could make. Téa held out her finger and the bird hopped onto it.

"You're just about all I have left of him, Tori," Téa said to the robot. Brian had made the bird for her as a graduation present. It was one of her two most cherished possessions, that and a golden, heart shaped locket that had her name written across the front in a rose pink script. She never went anywhere without the locket, even though she wore it tucked into her shirt, out of plain sight.

The last time she had heard anything from him was nothing more than a note saying that he had to leave. She never had a chance to tell him good-bye or how much she loved him.

_It's been almost two years. Why haven't you come back? Brian…I need you…_She turned and looked at the picture of him that she kept on her dresser as tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"Brian, come back to me!" she shouted at the photo. Tori chirped again and flew over to the picture and landed next to it.

* * *

(Brian's Personal Jet)

"I summon Guardian Angel Joan," Paige said to her brother. She brushed a lock of her red-gold hair away from her face as she looked up at Brian. Instead of watching the game, he was staring out the window into the clouds. "Hey, I know I'm not the greatest duelist ever, but could you at least humor me?"

"Oh, sorry. I guess I'm just preoccupied," Brian apologized. He turned away from the window to look at the twenty eight year old woman who was his sister. "I'm worried that they think I abandoned them."

"Are you having second thoughts about this?" Paige asked curiously. She folded the cards in her hand and gently set them down in front of her. She crossed her arms and rested them on the table between them. "If you are, that's why I'm here, to make sure you go through with it."

"No…I know what I have to do," he replied. He ran a hand through his brown hair as he tried to sort out his thoughts. "I just…I don't know. It's like something inside me just turned upside down and nothing fits anymore."

"Ah, to be young and in love…" she joked. "Boy, do I miss those days."

"I'm not so young anymore, you know," Brian informed her.

"I know," Paige responded with a smile. "But you're still in love." Brian didn't respond. He just set down his cards, face up, and walked toward the cockpit. Paige looked at the cards and realized he was holding the five Exodia cards. "Hey! That's not fair!"

Brian paused and smiled when he heard her comment, then opened the door and stepped in. "What's our ETA to our final destination?" he questioned the pilot.

"A little over two hours, sir. It will be around 5:30, their time, when we arrive," the pilot answered. After thanking him for coming out on Christmas Eve, Brian returned to his seat and went to sleep a few minutes later, and remained that way for the rest of the trip.

Paige leaned back in her seat as her brother, one of the last people in her family, slept soundly. Even she thought he looked cute when he was asleep. She could only imagine what Téa thought she saw him. Paige smiled when she thought of the two of them together. _You've grown up a lot, kid. In such a short time too. I suppose those years by yourself helped you cope with anything life could throw at you, love most of all. At first, I thought you wouldn't be prepared yet, but you were more than ready to love and be loved. Not only that, but you could also see into the hearts of others and you found your soul mate the first time. Now it's time to find your Cinderella again._

* * *

(Egypt, Temple of Abydos)

"Doctor Jackson! I found something you should look at!" a woman called out.

"Have you, Claire? What is-" Daniel started to ask. He walked through a collapsed wall where his colleague had been exploring. It was a previously unknown chamber hidden deep in the Temple of Abydos. "Oh…"

Unlike the rest of the temple, there were few writings on the walls and in the middle was a black ark under a column of light that seemed to come from nowhere. Daniel judged the distance from the outside walls. It put the black ark directly underneath the gold one at the top of the temple.

"Let's see what is inside shall we?" he continued. He beckoned one of their assistants over to help him lift the cover. When it came off, a strange black mist drifted out of it. The assistant was a native Egyptian and took the sign as a bad omen and charged out of the room screaming. Daniel gave him a skeptical look as he ran out. "Well…that's not good. Where do you find these guys anyway?"

"Hey, look at this," Claire commented, ignoring the question. "This drawing looks like your nephew. What was his name? Brian?"

"Yeah, my sister's son," Daniel answered. He walked over at examined the pictograph. "Oh my god. I think something is killing him."

"Killing him? Are you sure?" Claire asked in shock.

"I think so…above him are the symbols for Anubis, Osiris, and Apep," he replied. "According to legend, they were always present during death at some point in time during the after life."

"You have unleashed a great evil," a voice said from behind them. "And I'm afraid that Brian is about to be pulled into the fight against it."

"Shadi," Daniel said he turned around to see who was speaking. "What do you mean? Is he in danger?"

"Only time will tell," Shadi replied. "As you can see, one drawing shows his defeat, while the opposite wall shows his victory."

"Claire, get to work. We need to decipher these texts so we can warn him," Daniel told his friend. "Thanks for the warning, Shadi."

"He's gone," Claire commented. They had turned their backs for only a second and the stranger had vanished. "And you say I find weird people."

"Yeah, he does that. Anyway, we'd better get to it if we want to figure this out in time," Daniel replied. He looked at the first drawing they found. "And we better work fast."


	2. Reunion

I know last chapter was a little slow and this one is going to be a bit slow as well. The action will pick up in the next few chapters, I promise. I have a little surprise for you guys, which is going to be surprising. I can't tell you what it is yet. I really want to, but I can't. So here's chapter two, enjoy. And in your reviews if you have any questions go ahead and ask them and I will answer them as long as they don't reveal the plot too early. I can't have any spoilers now can I?

* * *

**Chapter 2: Reunion**

(Domino City, Yugi's House)

Yugi's party was going better than he had anticipated. Tristan and Duke were the first to arrive, followed a few minutes later by Téa. They were sitting around a table in his living room talking and laughing while waiting for Joey and Mai. Once they showed up, the gang would all be there. Well, most of it anyway. A sudden rapping on the outside door drew their attention. Yugi excused himself to go answer it and found Joey and Mai standing in the snow outside.

"Merry Christmas, Yugi," Mai said happily. She and Joey stepped in and removed their coats and shoes.

"I'm tellin' ya, it's gettin' colder out there," Joey commented.

"Hey, you guys? This year Téa seems happy. She's actually laughing," Yugi told them. "I'm hoping it will stay that way if no one mentions Brian tonight. Could you try to stay away from the topic?"

"Yeah, of course," Mai replied. Joey nodded in agreement. They followed Yugi into the room with everyone else. They heard the end of one of Tristan's stories as they entered.

"…And he just kept saying 'I know what I'm doing.' Then he turned the cap one more time and oil sprayed out all over Joey's face!" he finished. Duke and Téa burst out laughing, Duke nearly falling off his seat. "Oh, hey Joey, Mai."

"Tristan…are you telling that story I told you not to tell?" Joey threatened. Tristan gave him a playful grin as Mai took a seat next to Téa with Joey to her right.

Almost everyone was wearing festive attire, greens, reds, blues, and yellows. Téa was wearing a sweater with tree, reindeer, and ornament designs in rows that wrapped around her and a pair of warm jeans. She also wore her gold locket on the outside, contrary to her norm. Joey and Tristan were wearing identical outfits, red, white, and green striped long sleeved shirts and baggy denim pants. Neither of them had planned on it, it had just happened. Duke had worn dress clothes in an attempt to impress Serenity, but after finding out she wasn't going to be there, he had unbuttoned the over shirt and wore it like a jacket. Mai had purple jeans and a matching sweatshirt with "Merry Christmas" written across the front. She said she had made the outfit herself. Yugi was the exception to the rule. He wore his trademark black leather, although he had ditched the bracelets and collar Yami always insisted on him wearing.

After another fifteen minutes of talking, another knock on the door resounded through the house. It drew everyone's attention again and perked their curiosity. Téa's right hand slowly moved up her chest until it touched the locket around her neck. She quickly dropped her hand when Yugi returned with Seto Kaiba, of all people, along with Mokuba and Noah. Everyone exchanged confused glances at one another. Yugi pulled a chair in from the kitchen and set it at the end of the couch next to where Téa was sitting. Mokuba and Noah squeezed in next to Tristan. There was a moment of silence before anyone spoke.

"So…what brings you here Kaiba?" Joey asked.

"Yugi sent us an invitation," He said not even looking at the person who asked the question. "But don't think I'm enjoying it."

"Apparently, we've been invited the past five years," Noah added. "Seto has been hiding the invitations from us so we wouldn't beg him into coming."

"But we found his hiding spot and forced him to bring us down," Mokuba finished.

"Blackmail? Nice touch, kids," Mai commented. Everyone snickered except Kaiba, who just groaned and looked away from everyone.

"Now I see where they get it," Kaiba muttered.

"Come on, Kaiba lighten up. It's Christmas," Téa said smiling and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Sure, whatever," Kaiba said. He shrugged her hand off and looked at her. Téa had turned back to her friends, but he could still partially see her face. Even after these past few years he still thought she was hot. He had fought a duel against her boyfriend five years ago. She was the prize and he had lost. It reminded him of a saying that said love conquers all, but he had considered his loss a stroke of luck for his opponent. Kaiba shook off his thoughts and returned to the conversation that was going on between Yugi's friends and his brothers.

"We're attending Domino High now," Mokuba said in response to Duke's question. "Seto wanted to have us tutored at home but we 'insisted' that we go to a real school and get out of the house for once."

"Blackmail…" Mai said in a sing-song voice. She giggled when Kaiba shot her a menacing glare. Yet another knock on the door drew their attention, but only briefly. This time Téa didn't get her hopes up again.

"I wonder who that could be…" Yugi said after taking a quick inventory of who was there. Tristan suggested that it was Serenity, but no one agreed with him. Yugi opened the door to reveal two people of approximately equal height wearing white cloaks. Each of the cloaks was hooded and clasped closed to the right of their necks by a spherical gem. The person in front had a blue gem, while the one behind had a red one. The hoods hid their faces in shadow so he couldn't tell who they were. "Who are you two?"

Neither of them spoke and they both entered the door. The first person kept walking to the next room while the second stayed behind. The second person pulled the hood off and Yugi gasped when he saw who it was.

* * *

Everyone stared at the stranger who had entered the room. He simply stood there looking at them, light from the fireplace shimmering off of the gem on his cloak.

"Who are you and what do you want?" Kaiba demanded. He stood up and faced the newcomer, mostly to protect his family, or at least that's the excuse he would use. The cloaked figure neither spoke nor moved. "How about we duel? If I win you leave right now."

"Hey, no fights. Not today," Téa pleaded. She stood up and tried to lightly pull Kaiba away, but he just shook free of her grip.

"I agree with her," the stranger spoke up. "Besides, the last time we fought, you lost."

Everyone let out startled gasps as they recognized the voice. They murmured phrases like 'oh my god' and 'it can't be.' Téa's eyes went wide as she clutched at her heart and took a step back. She shook her head back and forth slowly as tears formed in her eyes. Her breathing got heavy as he reached up and twisted the gem which let the cloak open freely. He pulled it off to reveal brown hair, aquamarine eyes, and a gentle smile.

"Brian?" Téa whispered. "Can it really be you?"

He stepped up to her and leaned in to kiss her. She resisted at first, but when his lips touched hers, she melted into him and closed her eyes, pushing out her tears as she did so. They wrapped their arms around each other and pulled themselves closer to one another.

"Five bucks says she hits him after this," Duke said quietly to Tristan.

"You're on," he replied just as silent.

Téa broke the kiss and pulled back slightly so she could see his face. "I missed you so much," she said to her love. Then she backed away from him and slapped him hard across the face. "How could you do that to me?"

"Ha! Pay up, loser," Duke told Tristan. The other just gave him a funny look.

"I guess I deserved that," Brian laughed. Paige and Yugi entered a moment later and stood in the doorway. "But I _am_ sorry. I apologize…to all of you. I should have contacted you before now, but I've been really busy during the last two years. My company was in worse shape than I thought."

"Well, let's sit down and you tell us all about it," Yugi suggested.

* * *

(New York City, Alexis Luminari's Car)

"Great. Just great," Alexis said to no one. She was the only one in her car, which was filled with packages. "I knew this would happen. 'Do your shopping early' they said. But did I listen? No, of course not."

Alexis had been sitting in traffic for an hour. It had been really slow on her way up to the mall and half way back, but now it was at a stop. A dead stop. People were beeping their horns madly, trying in vain to get moving again. She looked over top of the car in front of her to see what was going on. The problem was that the line of cars went on for miles.

"Late for Christmas. Just my dirty, rotten luck," Alexis continued to herself. That's when she saw it. A serpent like creature snaking it's way across the twilight sky. It was dark gray and black and had small black wings. "Was that what I thought is was? No, it couldn't be. Unless that really _was_ a Serpent Night Dragon. Alright, I'm not going crazy, I'm just stressed out. I need to ask Brian for a longer vacation."

Five more flew through the air where she had seen the first one. "Like a vacation 'til next Christmas…" she groaned. The rest of her thoughts were drowned out by the drone of beeping horns.

* * *

(Domino City, Yugi's House)

"I hired on the help of my friends that I met in the Roses tournaments, and things picked up, just not up enough," Brian said, finishing his story of the past two years. Paige cleared her throat as if to suggest something. "Oh, yeah. Paige is my Art Director, too."

"Wow, sounds like you really _have_ been busy," Duke commented.

"Any chance your cards could be sold here?" Yugi asked mischievously.

"Careful, Yugi. You're starting to sound like Kaiba," Brian laughed. His joke drew a displeased groan from Kaiba and a laugh from everyone else. Out of the corner of his eye, Brian watched Téa. His face still tingled slightly from the slap she had given him earlier, but he knew it was out of love. Her kiss still held the same passion it had in the past. "Ah, I almost forgot. I have some things for you guys."

Brian reached into a pocket on the inside of his cloak and pulled out eight envelopes. As he did so, his fingers brushed a small velvet box which remained in his pocket, remaining unnoticed by the others. He passed seven of them out one at a time to their proper recipients. They merely looked at the cards curiously and only opened them when Brian insisted on it. Inside, they each found a Christmas card, and five lucky ones found a brand new Duel Monsters card. They shared their prizes with each other excitedly, trying to see who got a better card. Brian looked over at Paige, who gave her little brother a grin.

"I can't believe it," Tristan said gleefully. "These cards are fantastic!"

"I never would have guessed that you could be that inventive, Brian," Yugi added.

"Well, I can't take all the credit," Brian said. He made a nod to his sister. "Paige hand painted the pictures herself, before they were digitally imprinted that is. Take good care of those cards, too. They will be the rarest cards in my company's first card set and it will be very hard to get them."

"Even I'm impressed," Kaiba remarked, even though he didn't get one of the new cards. "Before you ship, you'll have to send me the rules and designs of each card so they can be uploaded to the duel disk data satellites."

"Uh…sure…" Brian replied. "Anyway, I'm going to be in town for a few days and then I have to go back. But until then, I'm going to hang with you guys, if that's alright."

"If? No, there's no if," Téa said a little forcefully. "I take that back, there is one if. If you don't spend some time alone with me, you're toast."

"Téa, honey," Mai jumped in. "Calm down. You're gonna scare him off."

Everyone began laughing except for Kaiba, who merely frowned at the comment, and Téa, who simply bit her lower lip and blushed.

* * *

(Unknown Location)

"Excellent. Everything is going according to plan," a man said. He wore a layered black robe and had jet black hair with the same color for a short beard. He watched through a crystal ball as monsters flew, crawled, and swam into the real world. "Soon my creatures will wreak havoc upon those pitiful mortals and I shall rule over all!"

"My lord, the tunnel to the real world is not big enough," said one of six soldiers that kneeled before their ruler. "Many of our forces still cannot pass through."

"Perhaps if your weak earth forces weren't in the way, my much stronger water forces could get past," a female member of the group spoke up.

"Enough of your bickering!" their ruler ordered. "My forces are superior to both of yours. You are here to serve me, not to fight amongst yourselves."

"Apologies, my lord," the two said together.

"In due time, all of our monsters will be able to travel between the real world and the Shadow Realm freely," the ruler laughed. "But until then, have patience. Great things take time. Now, tend to your duties."

The six warriors faded and vanished into the shadows, leaving their future emperor by himself. It didn't last long, for two guards entered a minute later dragging a black clad young man. They pulled him to their leader's feet and dropped him on his face. He groaned as he tried to get up but could only get on his hands and knees.

"We found this intruder just outside the palace walls," one of the guards explained.

"Leave us!" the man in the throne ordered. The guards bowed and quickly left and returned to their posts. "So, we meet again…"

The man looked up from his position on the floor. He glared at his captor past his blonde bangs, his dark purple eyes narrowed and teeth clenched. "You won't get away with this!" he snarled.

"But I already have," he replied. "I would destroy you, Yami, but I have a much better use for you…"

"What are you-!" Yami tried to reply. The dark lord in front of him held out his hand and released a beam of light from it that connected to Yami's forehead. Yami yelled in pain as the power from the hand tore through his mind. "Yugi! I need your help!"

Yami's body slumped forward as the dark being's evil laughter filled the room.

* * *

**End of Chapter Notes**

Just to clear things up, Téa, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Duke were the ones that got new cards. These cards don't actually exist (as far as I know) but they will still be used in this story. The cards they got are as follows:

Angel of Light  
Level 6 Light  
Fairy/Fusion/Effect  
Petit Angel + Shining Friendship  
As long as this card is face up on the field increase the attack and defense of all monsters on your side of the field by 500.  
ATK/2000 DEF/2000  
(This one is Téa's. The picture is her body with Graceful Charity's wings and clothes. In the background, is the light effect that is on Elf's Light.)

Millennium Power  
Spell/Continuous  
You can not attack during the turn you activate this card. Increase the attack of all monsters on your side of the field with the name "Dark Magician," "Dark Magician Girl," or "Magician of Black Chaos" by 1000 points. This card can only be activated when at least one of these monsters are on the field. When all of these monsters are removed from the field, destroy this card as well.  
(This is Yugi's. The picture has the Millennium Puzzle in the center with the other seven items around it, Millennium Bracelet is included in this. It has a black background.)

The Warrior of Black Dragon  
Level 8 Dark  
Warrior/Fusion  
Red-Eyes Black Dragon + Swordsman of Landstar  
ATK/3000 DEF/2500  
(As you can probably guess, this is Joey's. Think of Alligator's Sword Dragon and replace Baby Dragon with Red Eyes and Alligator's Sword with Swordsman of Landstar.)

Cyber General  
Level 5 Earth  
Machine/Effect  
ATK/2300 DEF/1700  
This monster can only be special summoned by offering "Cyber Commander" from your side of the field as a tribute. Increase the attack of all Machine monsters by 200 and decrease their levels by one.  
(This is Tristan's. Cyber Commander in a tank is what it looks like.)

Demon Dice  
Trap  
Roll a six sided die once. If the result is even, increase the attack of all of your monsters by 200 times the amount you rolled. If the result is odd, decrease the attack of all of your monsters by 200 times the amount you rolled.  
(Finally, this one is Duke's. For the picture, the little guys from Graceful Dice and Skull Dice holding one giant die between them. The "one" side is facing out and the dot has devil horns.)

**Notes to reviewers:**

Silver Fantasy: I'm glad you enjoyed the first chapter. Yes, there are a few OCs in the previous chapter but I can explain them. If you read Duelist of the Roses, Jack Mahour, Alexis Luminari, and Melissa Hensen are people that Brian met in the past. Brian Matthews is the main character for the stories and Paige is his older sister. Daniel Jackson is Brian's uncle (on his mother's side) and Claire is merely Daniel's assistant.


	3. Veil of Darkness

At the risk of sounding exactly like Kiba Inuzuka, YAHOO!!! I'm back!!! After a period of over three years, I'm finally updating this thing. When my other computer died, I lost chapters 3 and 4 of DotR2 and along with it went my determination to keep writing. I rethought some ideas, branched out into different story lines, and tweaked a few things here and there. One aesthetic change and three character changes will be noticeable.

Aesthetic change: Settings will no longer contain dates. The idea for that was I published it in 2005, the next three chapters were all done in 2005, and I planned on finishing it in 2005. That went really well didn't it? So I'm getting rid of them. I'll update chapters 1 and 2 when I can to correct this.

Character changes: Alexis, Melissa, and Jack will have new last names. Way back when I thought using names from Battlestar Galactica was funny. Now, not so much. I will go back to the previous chapters and change last names as needed as well as change them in DotR1 for continuity purposes. I'm using YVD (Yu-Gi-Oh! Virtual Dueling, a free software for deck building and online dueling) to create new decks for characters. I will be using the Sept 1st 2008 Advanced ban list in creating decks and those decks will remain the same even if the list changes before I finish this. This also lets me use things that didn't exist three years ago. Also, I'm going to change a couple of the cards I made. After three years, I realized that Joey's card was kind of stupid and Cyber Commander doesn't exist. I'll enter the changes at the end of this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 3: Veil of Darkness**

(Domino City, Millennium Games/Yugi's House)

_Finally._ Yugi said to himself. _Finally, the gang's back together._ His party was going well, and that was understating it. Brian had come back after all this time and everyone, Téa especially, was happy, with the exception of the elder Kaiba brother, of course. But something bothered him still. The Millennium Bracelet had been glowing just a few hours ago. Then Brian showed up. Did it mean something? And if it did, what was it?

"Yugi? Is something wrong?" The kind voice seemed to pierce his thoughts like a knife through butter. Snapping out of his troubles, he looked up to see Paige staring at him. "You look like your cat just died."

"What? Oh…Uh," Yugi started. He didn't want to worry them, not after everything had become so great again. "It's nothing. I just feel like I forgot something, that's all."

"Well, it probably wasn't too important if you forgot it," Brian reassured him from his place on the couch next to Téa. "Don't worry about it and it'll come back to you."

"Yeah, maybe…" Yugi said thoughtfully. He had to tell someone, he couldn't just keep it to himself if he wanted to figure it out. "Oh! Brian, I wanted to show you something. Out here in the shop."

"Sure," Brian responded. He gave Téa's hand a slight pat and she nodded to him before returning to her examination of one of the drawings Paige had been passing around. Yugi lead him out of living room and into the storefront, right in front of the display case for the Millennium Items. "This is it? You put them on display, cool."

"Well, yeah, I did," Yugi said nervously. Brian sensed the hesitation in his friend's voice and furrowed his brow. "I didn't really _need_ to show you this. But…I need to tell you something. And don't mention it to the others. I don't want to worry them."

"So Paige was right, something really is wrong," Brian replied calmly.

"Wrong? Maybe or maybe not. Confusing? Yes, indeed," Yugi explained. He crossed his arms and looked at his feet for a moment, figuring out just how to break the news. He looked back up and brushed some of his blonde bangs from his face. "A few hours ago, before everyone showed up, I saw the Millennium Bracelet glowing."

"Glowing? You sure?" Brian turned his attention back to the display case. It certainly wasn't glowing now. "I thought all the power from the items was given to Yami before he left. It was probably just a reflection."

"Yeah, that's what I thought too, but only the bracelet?" Yugi pondered. He shook his head slowly. "I can't explain it. Shadi told us that the items would become powerless and basically turn into the ancient artifacts that they appear to be. I don't know, maybe the powers are trickling back into them?"

"I see why you didn't want to worry anyone else," Brian remarked. "I don't think there's any use worrying about it. At least until another maniac with an over inflated ego attacks us. Speaking of over inflated egos…"

Yugi turned to follow Brian's gaze. Seto Kaiba stepped through the doorway, Noah and Mokuba trudging close behind him. "Happy? We showed up. Now I'm getting out of here before you nerds start swapping baby pictures."

"Sure, Kaiba. Whatever you want to do," Yugi told him before looking at Noah and Mokuba. "You guys are always welcome here, you know. Stop by whenever you feel like it."

Kaiba rolled his eyes at the grins that came over his brothers' faces. "As for you, Matthews, I'll need that information as soon as possible. I'm sure you can find the address?"

"I'm sure Paige has it lying around somewhere," Brian smirked. "She did work for you for awhile, remember?"

Kaiba scoffed then continued to the front door.

* * *

(Domino City, Near the Docks)

_Humans. They're so disgusting._

From a distance, anyone would say she was crazy. You would have to be to stand on top of a building near the docks in the middle of winter. However, those who would call her that, couldn't see her. She was just as invisible to them as the Fortress Whale sitting in the harbor was. But there was a time when she was visible in this world. There was a time when she could even affect the objects around her in this world.

_This world…_ she thought. _The human world._ She looked down at her sickly green hands. _I was once in this world. I was beautiful. All those men of that time believed I was…what did they call it? A mermaid? They always beckoned to me, to come closer. That way they could capture me and sell me. Or force me to breed as if I were one of them._ Her hands fell to her sides and curled tightly into fists. She clenched her sharp, pointed teeth and her ears, formations seemingly like the fins of a fish, twitched angrily. _Then they saw me, saw what I was without the disruption of the ebb and flow of the ocean to shield me. They only saw a monster._

That's when she saw them. A young couple walking along the sidewalk in the snow. Their hands were joined, fingers laced, and they laughed and giggled. _How cute. How adorable. How utterly disgusting._ She waved her hand and a Freezing Beast appeared in front of them. The couple continued on, not breaking their pace in the slightest. Another flick of her wrist sent the icy, dog-like creature bounding toward the humans. Closer and closer it got, then it leaped to land the death blow.

The smirk that had crossed her face quickly dropped back into the sneer that was there before. The Freezing Beast passed right through the humans. All they felt was a slightly chilly breeze wash over them for a second.

"I need more power!" she yelled into the night. She clutched at the gold trimmed blue armor that she wore. It was a symbol of her devotion to the Dark Lord. It was a reminder of the promises he made to her. Promises of power and revenge. So far, even after all her services, she still didn't have enough to complete her revenge.

"Now, now, Undine. Gimme gimme never gets," a mocking male voice said from behind her.

"What do _you_ want?" Undine demanded. She turned and faced the man, her black shark eyes boring into his deep brown ones. "How dare you come here and mock me, Bakura?"

Bakura chuckled. "I just came to tell you that the Dark Lord requests your presence for the preparations, oh mighty Warrior of Water." He continued to mock her. "Perhaps you would like me to tell him that you demand more of his power before you'll show up instead?"

"No," Undine snarled. She balled her fists. _Dirty, rotten, filthy human scum._ "You're lucky you're so important to the Dark Lord or I would kill you in an instant."

"Oh no, how terrible!" Bakura mocked sarcastically. This angered Undine greatly. "It's so ironic to plan the destruction of the human realm along side one who gushed over them at one time."

"Enough!" Undine shouted at him. Bakura smirked as she walked past him and opened a portal to the Shadow Realm. "I really do hope you mind your tongue in front of the Dark Lord so he doesn't steal the pleasure of killing you from me."

An evil smile came across Bakura's face as he followed Undine through the portal and sealed it behind him.

* * *

(Domino City, Millennium Games/Yugi's House)

"Eleven o'clock, all is well, and Joey Wheeler is ready to hit the hay," Joey remarked tiredly. He was the first of the group to come out, but the others were right on his heels. The Kaibas had stepped outside barely a minute before. "Ya know, it's a good thing you showed up this year, Brian. If you hadn't, I woulda had to come drag ya here."

"And if you had, you would have found him already at the airport because I'd be the one dragging him here," Paige grinned. She put a hand on her hip and cocked her head a little while her brother smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

Téa walked up to Brian and pinched his cheek as if she were an over endearing aunt that only got to see her nephew once a year. "Awww, does wittle Bwian need his sissy to take care of him?" she teased.

"Hey, stop it," Brian said as he brushed Téa's hand away. Just as he did, the phone in his pocket went off. He fumbled the small piece of equipment and answered it quickly. "I certainly hope this won't take very long."

"Well…you might want to pull up a chair then," a familiar, though troubled, voice said from the other end.

"Uncle Daniel?" Brian asked. He turned to Paige and saw that she wore the same puzzled look as he did. "Is there something wrong? You sound worried."

"Claire and I found something," he explained. "Something was discovered in the Temple of Abydos, a chamber buried beneath the temple."

"That's interesting," Brian told his uncle. He made a gesture to Paige. It was one they had used for years when they heard from their uncle and he was rambling about one of his digs that would supposedly revolutionize the field of archaeology. Paige merely shrugged back. "Make sure you send us some pictures."

"You may want to see this for yourself," Daniel continued. "In the new chamber…ack sarcophagus…drawings of…"

"Uncle Daniel, hold on, you're breaking up," Brian told him. He went quickly outside to try to get a better signal. The Kaibas, still trying to dig out their car from under a pile of snow, paused to see what the commotion was. "Uncle Daniel? Can you hear me? You still there?"

"Doesn't Uncle Daniel use a satellite phone?" Paige asked from the doorway. Brian responded with a nod then a curious look at his phone.

"Nothing but static," he commented. "Strange…he said something about the Temple of Abydos. He found some sort of sarcophagus and drawings. I couldn't make all of it out."

"Wait, wasn't that where the Millennium Bracelet was found?" Téa questioned. Brian nodded absently while Yugi sighed audibly.

"Great, more of this ancient magic nonsense," Kaiba complained. "When are you fools going to realize that it is _not real_?"

"Oh, get over yourself Kaiba," Paige voiced the words no one else dared to. "If you don't believe it's real, then just butt out!"

"Hey! What's that light?" Mokuba exclaimed before his brother could retort and everyone else recover from their shock at Paige's words. Instead of responding they looked towards the sky and, sure enough, spotted a large column of light in the distance. Even stranger than seeing such a bright light in the middle of the night, was the fact that it was moving. And it was headed straight towards them.

"Yugi, check this out!" Tristan called from inside the shop. Yugi, followed closely by Brian, pushed his way back inside to see the Millennium Items glowing. All eight of them.

"Yugi," Brian started. "Now's the time to worry."

"They must be reacting to that light," Yugi confirmed. "Whatever is going on, I don't think it can be good."

"Get inside, both of you," Kaiba ordered as he pushed his brothers back into the game shop. "Yugi, you have five seconds to explain this."

"Still think it's fake Kaiba?" Paige challenged.

Kaiba's retort was drowned out by yells and screams as the blinding light pierced through the building and surrounded the eleven of them. They all felt a sudden sensation of weightlessness as they were lifted from the ground. Suddenly the light vanished. The eight Millennium Items were gone, along with the inhabitants of the shop.

* * *

**End of Chapter Notes**

How's that? Chapter 3 accomplished. The next one might take a little bit. I still have some decks to work out on YVD (that takes time you know) not to mention that I also work full time so I don't have all the time in the world to do anything. My next "updates" will be corrections to previous chapters as mentioned above. As I also mentioned earlier, there's better new cards for Joey and Tristan. Contrary to my previous works, I'll be using spell cards instead of magic cards, since Magic the Gathering has copyrights to the word 'magic' apparently.

Luck Warrior  
Level 5 Earth  
Warrior/Effect  
ATK/1000 DEF/1000  
This monster cannot be normal summoned or set. This monster can only be special summoned when Graceful Dice and Skull Dice are chained and resolved without either being negated. Once per turn, when this monster battles an opponent's monster, flip a coin and roll a six-sided die. If heads, multiply this monster's attack by the amount that was rolled. If tails, divide the opposing monster's attack by the amount you rolled.  
(The picture is Joey in the classic cliché knight armor. The monster holds a kite shield with the Graceful Dice imp on the top left, the Skull Dice imp on the bottom right, and die patterns of 3 and 6 on the top right and bottom left.)

Linear Destruction Cannon  
Spell/Equip  
This card can only be equipped to a Machine-type monster. Once per turn, the equipped monster may move to an adjacent monster zone. The monster equipped with this card may only attack a monster that is across from it on your opponent's side of the field. When the equipped monster destroys your opponent's monster in battle, destroy your opponent's spell or trap card that was behind the destroyed monster, if there is one.  
(It's pictured as a smaller version of Linear Accelerator Cannon being held by Kinetic Soldier.)


	4. Lost

Holy flaming Kuribohs, two updates within a month!? It must be the apocalypse! I know I said it would take a bit because I had to make some decks, but I realized that I had to set the setting for all that jazz. Also, I am now caught up to where I was before disaster struck and the life of poor, poor Andromeda was untimely ripped from its heart of silicon circuitry. But only four people read the last chapter? And no reviews? Is it really that bad? If it is then tell me! I can't make it better if I don't know what's wrong with it. And if no one likes it just because it's started out rather slow…well…if you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding!

* * *

**Chapter 4: Lost**

(Unknown Location)

"Well, Luna? Was it successful or not?" his voice boomed. He stared down at the girl garbed in white armor trimmed in gold. Luna, the Warrior of Light, looked deeply into the orb that floated before her. She was the only oracle of the group and the only one that could track the progress of their operation.

"Partially," came her surprisingly monotone reply. Her beautiful figure and long hair that started out pure white and gradually changed to azure at the ends would fool most beings into believing that she was beautiful on the inside as well. Her voice is what put the indecision into her foes' minds.

Her master's black eyes narrowed. "What do you mean _partially_?" he demanded, letting anger creep into his voice.

"The Millennium Items have been pulled into the Shadow Realm," Luna replied. Her pale blue eyes looked deeper into her scrying orb. "Another force has diverted them from being brought to us."

The other warriors looked between each other. They knew that if they had failed, their master would sooner destroy them than give them another chance. Before any retaliation could be done, however, a mocking laugh echoed through the hall.

"Did you really think that the Millennium Items would just drop right into your lap so easily?" Bakura cackled. Unlike the warriors, who knelt before the wicked king, Bakura casually leaned against one of the pillars in the chamber. "Please. Even though their powers were given to the Pharaoh, they still have their protection charms."

"Why didn't you mention this before, Bakura!?" the furious response reverberated off the stone walls. "Your insolence is starting to give me reason to end your usefulness to me!"

"You really ought to control yourself, _master_," Bakura said snidely. _As if he could destroy_ me_._ "The Items are in the Shadow Realm now. All that's left to do now is to go and collect them."

"Very well then," the ruler concluded. The anger in his voice had subsided, but only by a small amount. "I'll send our new recruit out to collect them and bring them here."

"When the Items were captured, we also collected something…more," Luna's voice came up once again.

"What do you mean?" her master questioned her. The anger was almost gone this time. Instead, it was replaced by intrigue.

"When the items were picked up, ten humans were also taken," Luna informed him. "They too are in the Shadow Realm. I have separated the group and placed them safely away from the Items."

"Interesting," the man said as he stood before them. He then paced the length of his audience while stroking his short beard. "Luna, you shall remain here. The other five of you go and deal with these nuisances." He then turned to the shadows where he knew his 'recruit' was waiting. "As for you, collect the Millennium Items and bring them to me."

* * *

(Unknown Location)

Téa's eyes fluttered open slowly. Her initial reaction was to squeeze them shut again. However, the blinding light that she remembered to be there a second ago was gone. She sat up and held a hand to her throbbing head. _What in the world happened?_ An icy shiver passed through her body. She rubbed her bare arms instinctively to warm herself. _Wait…where's my sweater?_ She looked down at the yellow tank top and short white skirt she had on. "Isn't this what I wore five years ago during Battle City?" she wondered out loud. She quickly placed her hand on her chest and breathed a sigh of relief to find her locket still hanging around her neck.

"Oh…my head…" a voice groaned. Téa looked over around to find Yugi lying next to her. He too was wearing the exact outfit he wore during Battle City, his Domino High uniform, the coat left open, that surely couldn't still fit after five years. His head turned to see Téa's concerned eyes staring down at him. "Téa? Where are we?"

"Oh! Well, we're…" she began. It really hadn't occurred to her to try and figure out where they were exactly. She gazed at her surroundings only to find blackness. At the edges of her vision seemed to be purple clouds, but whenever she tried to look directly at them, they seemed to slide with her eyes, keeping themselves at the edge of her peripheral vision. "Wherever we are, I don't think we're at your house anymore, Yugi."

"I think I'll agree with you there," Yugi replied. "But it looks familiar for some reason. I think I've seen this place before somewhere but I can't quite put my finger on it."

"Yeah? Can you think of any reason why our clothes have changed too?" she asked in a slightly frustrated tone.

"No…" Yugi replied thoughtfully. The place they were in was cold, but Yugi knew it wasn't because of the temperature. Something about this place sent chills down his spine.

"I can't see anyone else," Téa told him. Yugi looked up to see the girl now standing, searching in every direction. The fear in her voice was starting to become more and more prominent. Yugi got up and placed a hand on her shoulder gently.

"I'm sure Brian's fine," he assured her, seemingly able to read her mind. Téa blushed slightly and nodded. "Let's worry about us for right now and try to find a way out of here."

* * *

(Unknown Location)

"See anything Joey!?" Tristan called out. Joey looked down from his place on the very peak of the mountain at his friend who was gradually making his way up to him. Joey now wore a white t-shirt with a blue stripe across the front and a pair of blue jeans while Tristan had a plain white shirt with a red and black jacket over top along with a pair of brown jeans. Neither of them had been able to explain the change.

"Nothin' but more mountains as far as the eye can see," Joey replied. _How in the heck did we get up here? There's no path down and it's way too hard to climb for someone to have carried us up here…_

"So what do we do now?" Tristan asked. "Sprout wings and fly off into the sunset?"

"Not a bad idea," Joey told him. "It would certainly make this terrain a lot easier to deal with."

"So you're still serious about trekking across the mountains to find Yugi?" Tristan asked, baffled. "This is nuts! We should just stay put until someone finds us."

"After that beam of light hit us, I shudder to think who'd actually find us up here," Joey told him before starting down the other side of the mountain. Tristan sighed, called him crazy under his breath, and scrambled after him.

* * *

(Unknown Location)

"You ok, Mokuba?" Noah asked his brother as he pulled him back to his feet. The intense heat of the hundreds of volcanoes surrounding them was killing them. Not to mention their new outfits, both consisting of long sleeves and pants and the vest that had also appeared on Mokuba, weren't helping matters much either.

"Yeah, I just slipped is all," he replied as he brushed himself off. "This volcanic ash doesn't make for the best terrain to walk through."

"Agreed. I wonder how all these volcanoes even sprouted so close to each other," Noah commented. "I've never heard of this many so close together and active all at the same time. I mean, you see things caused from tectonic drift, like Hawaii, but not even those volcanoes erupt all at once."

"You really are a know-it-all, Noah," Mokuba sighed.

"Well, perhaps if you actually paid attention in science class instead of gawking at Aura all the time, you would have known it too," Noah scolded.

Mokuba blushed slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come on! It's so obvious!" Noah laughed. "Mokuba and Aura sitting in a tree…"

"Now's not really the time for jokes, you know," Mokuba informed him as he trudged on through the slippery ash that coated the ground. "We need to find Seto as soon as possible. He'll know how to get us out of here."

* * *

(Unknown Location)

_Stupid…Duke…lose some…weight!_ Mai dragged Duke toward the edge of the beach she woke up on. She stopped dragging him about ten feet from the water and dropped him. She then ran over to the water and scooped up some in her hands, which she then dumped on Duke's face. He choked and coughed as he suddenly came around. "Welcome back Dukie boy," Mai taunted.

"Mai!? What the heck did you do that for!?" Duke screamed. He paused and looked her over for a moment. Her clothes had changed from earlier to a white corselet under a purple jacket which in turn matched her mini skirt. "You weren't wearing that before…damn, Joey's lucky…"

"_What was that, pretty boy!?_" Mai yelled while she shook him by his collar.

"Nothing! Nothing!" Duke hollered. Mai closed her eyes in frustration and dropped Duke back into the sand. "Jeez…have you ever heard of whiplash?"

"What is this place anyway?" Mai asked as she stood back up.

"Beats me," Duke replied, crawling to his feet as well. "There's no beaches like this around Domino, and even if there were, it's the middle of winter in a blizzard, but all I see is sun and blue sky."

Mai sighed and began walking along the water's edge. "Yugi would know where we are. He always seems to know these things." She smiled to herself. _Or else Joey would run around like a chicken with its head cut off until someone found out._

* * *

(Unknown Location)

Kaiba stopped at the edge of the canyon ahead of him and spun on his heel. "Are you _still_ following me?"

"Look, there's no one around for god knows how far and it's better for us to stick together. For survival," the auburn haired girl shot back. Paige Matthews, one of only a few people to have stood up to Seto Kaiba and survived, trudged slowly through the heat of the desert her and Kaiba had woken up in. She examined her clothes for a moment. Her white cloak was now smeared with dirt from having been dragged through the sand and her white pants and shirt were also beginning to collect dust from the air. _Last time I let Brian convince me to wear all white._

"I don't need you to survive," Kaiba informed her coldly. "Unlike you, I don't rely on other people. I can take care of myself just fine. Come to think of it, that's probably why you didn't last at Kaiba Corp."

Paige blew a strand of hair away from her eyes. "Excuse me? I believe I _quit_ Kaiba Corp so I could go help my little brother with _his_ company. But you wouldn't understand something like that since you only think of yourself."

Kaiba glared at her, but said nothing. What did she know about him anyway? She relied on her brother to take care of her. _Of course, without Mokuba and Noah, I'd probably be a lot worse off._ "Fine. Follow me if you want. I don't care. But know this: if you get in my way, I'll simply run you over."

"Oh, peachy," Paige remarked as Kaiba turned and continued walking. "I'll keep that in mind when you need my help."

* * *

(Temple of the Millennium Bracelet)

Brian groaned and rolled over quite painfully onto his stomach. Slowly, he pushed himself up, finding he had been laying on solid stone moments before. _No wonder I'm hurting so much. I probably got dropped on this stuff._ He glanced around at his surroundings as he got onto his knees. "Oh, great. The Shadow Realm. Exactly the place I wanted to visit today," he said out loud. A small shine caught his attention for a moment. Frowning at the sparkle, he edged closer to it and found the Millennium Bracelet just sitting on the ground in front of him.

He picked up the Item and slid it onto his wrist carefully. It brought back some memories, some good, but mostly bad. Because of this piece of gold and its other seven companions, his friends' souls had been removed from their bodies and ran the risk of being destroyed, including his love, Téa. Of course, without the magical coma he had been put under when he first got it, Téa might never have confessed her feelings to him in the first place. _Then I wouldn't be in this mess either. No one to come back to would have left me in New York, far, far away from this abduction situation._

Soon he realized his pain had subsided completely, as if he had never hurt to begin with. When he stood the rest of the way up, he noticed something strange. He looked down at himself to find himself wearing pitch black boots, some tight pants of the same color, and a black tunic with gold along the stitching. The pants seemed to be made of an extremely light and flexible material, but had the feel of metal, and apparently wrapped around his feet within the boots as well. Surprisingly, the clothes were quite comfortable.

"So, I'm here in the Shadow Realm, but where exactly?" Brian asked himself out loud. He began scanning the area and found the temple looming behind him. "Oh, this place again." He looked down at the Millennium Bracelet. "Another fine mess you've gotten us into. I suppose I'm here for a reason and I bet that particular reason is in there again."

Brian headed to the temple, just as he did five years previously. Last time, he remembered, he was off to face Marik Ishtar with Yami in order to take back the Millennium Ring and Rod and Yugi's soul. Back then, the bracelet had allowed him entry to the temple, but now, without its powers, Brian wasn't so sure he'd be able to open the gates again. Upon reaching that gate, however, his mind changed quickly.

"I should just turn around, right now, and walk away," he commented while examining the mangled iron bars that used to fortify the temple entrance. Something, he couldn't say what for sure, pulled at him, urged him to enter the temple once again. With a deep breath, he started in.

From the state of the gate, he expected the main hall to be in shambles. Instead, everything was exactly how he remembered it. From the faded yellow light that trickled in from the high arched windows to the polished, mirror-like marble floor, nothing had changed a bit. Brian continued his way forward toward the carved stone that sat at the forefront of the hall, and that's when he saw them.

"The other Millennium Items!" he exclaimed before rushing straight to them. "Puzzle, Necklace, Eye, Ring, Rod, Scale, and Key. Yep, that's all of them." Just when he was about to collect them, another person entered from the doorway that Brian remembered led to the trial rooms.

"No! He's here already!" the woman gasped in horror. "No…wait…you're not…it's you…Brian!"

"Yeah, it's me. Atoli?" Brian said slowly. The terrified priestess nodded quickly. "What's got you so scared? What happened here?"

"There isn't much time!" she began. "Listen carefully, for I only have time to tell it once." Brian nodded impatiently. "A dark force from the Shadow Realm attempted to steal the Millennium Items. Their powers are gone but they still have charms on them to protect them. However, the charms were not strong enough this time and we had to intervene. We diverted the Items to land here, in the temple, in the hopes of hiding them from this evil. But somehow he knew where they went and he sent his most powerful servant against us to retrieve them!"

"What about Aida? That guardian that I fought five years ago. Shouldn't he be here to protect you?" Brian asked.

"Alas, he was the first to fall. Aida was no match at all for the power that this man wielded," Atoli explained. "The other priests and priestesses are attempting to slow him down, but I don't think it will be long before-"

"How noble of you all to die in order to protect the Millennium Items," a deep voice interrupted. A pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness of the passage Atoli had entered from. "It seems that I chose well when I selected you as the guardians of the Bracelet."

"That voice…" Brian murmured. The red eyes grew nearer as the person came further from the passage. The pale light revealed his features slowly and surely. Familiar spiked black and red hair with golden yellow bangs and highlights made him unmistakable. "_Yami!?_"

Yami laughed as a greenish glowing symbol of an encircled hexagram appeared on his forehead. The sight caused Atoli to tremble in fear. "The King of Darkness has corrupted the spirit of the Pharaoh!"


	5. Shadow: The Envoy of the Dark Abyss

Hooray! The first duel of the story! This is going to be fun. The next five chapters will take place simultaneously. I claim this bandwidth in the name of Mars. Isn't that lovely? They're all going to be duels so some may be shorter and some may be longer, depending on how creative I can get with the duels and the decks themselves. Originally, these duels were all going to take place in the same chapter, but I decided to make this thing super-special-awesomely long by extending as much as I possibly could. My plan was to make these duels the final touches to the story and then I started thinking and I came up with ideas that I haven't seen in other works thus far. Why do I explain my reasoning behind each chapter? So you all can know. And knowing is half the battle! So now read, review, and tell your friends! And tell your mother! And tell your friend's mother! And tell your mother's friends!

* * *

**Chapter 5: Shadow – Envoy of the Dark Abyss**

(Shadow Realm, Dark Field)

"I can't walk another step!" Téa cried out and collapsed to her knees. "I'm so tired, my legs feel like jelly."

"Wow, Téa, you're really out of shape," Yugi told her. "We've only been walking for a few minutes."

"Try a few hours," she replied. "Excuse me for not having endless stamina like you do."

Yugi frowned at his friend. "Hours? That can't be right. We decided to start walking only a little while ago."

"You think I'm lying?" Téa shot back. "Does it _look_ like I've been walking for a couple minutes?"

"Alright, alright," Yugi gave in. He sat next to her, hoping not to start a fight. The last thing they needed was to be lost with bad tempers. "We'll rest for awhile, okay? It doesn't seem like we're making all that much headway anyway."

"Thanks, Yugi," Téa smiled. "You're always looking out for me. By the way, have you remembered where you've seen this place before?"

"I think so," he told her thoughtfully. "Well, at least I know of something that looks a lot like it. It was on a Duel Monsters card. A spell card called Yami. No relation to the Pharaoh, of course."

"Based on a Duel Monsters card…?" Téa wondered out loud. "Or maybe it's the other way around. Pegasus made the game based on the legends he found, right? What if this is what the Yami card is based on?"

"Then that would mean…" Yugi continued. He gasped. "That would mean that this is the Shadow Realm!"

Téa shut her eyes and hung her head. "I was afraid you were going to say that…"

"Hey! Don't worry, Téa!" Yugi said to comfort her. "I've been in the Shadow Realm more than once before and I came back just fine every time! It'll be the same for us this time too!"

Téa smiled weakly at him. "I hope so. And I hope everyone else will make it back as well."

"Don't worry about them," Yugi told her. Téa looked up at him in surprise. How was she supposed to not worry about them? "It's only us here. I bet you anything that the others are back home already, trying to figure out a way to get us back!" Suddenly, a look of horror came over his face. "Oh, no…if we're both here…that means…there's no one to keep Joey and Tristan out of my refrigerator!"

Téa forced a short laugh. Her nerves were too shot to produce any true laughter, but she knew Yugi's attempt at humor was for her sake to make her feel better. That's how he dealt with difficult things after Yami had left. He had admitted that Yami always had some encouraging words for him whenever he got down, but since he had left, Yugi had to find another way of picking himself up again. Dry humor, apparently, was his new way.

"Hey, Téa? Do you hear that?" Yugi asked softly.

"Hear what?" Téa asked him, surprised at his sudden seriousness. She strained her ears trying to hear whatever Yugi had picked up but to no avail. "I don't hear a thing. It's probably your imagination."

"No, I definitely heard something," Yugi told her. His tone made it clear that he wasn't making it up. "It sounded like metal. But it was steady, like someone walking."

"You're very perceptive, little one," a raspy voice echoed around them. "Even though your mind was clouded by the Shadow Realm, you still heard my approach."

"Alright, Yugi, you win. You heard something," Téa whimpered as she scooted closer to her friend.

Yugi ignored her. "Who are you and what do you want?" Yugi called out into the darkness. He couldn't see anyone or anything around him nor could he even tell which direction the voice came from.

"I am a servant of the Dark Lord," the strange voice hissed. "I am known as Shadow and I am here to claim your souls."

"Well, you can't just take our souls! You won't get them without a fight!" Yugi yelled into the darkness. His outburst surprised Téa. Yugi had been so shy and timid in the past. Sure he had always been there to protect his friends, but he had never been so proactive about it.

Shadow cackled evilly. "Now, who said there wouldn't be a fight? The Shadow Realm only accepts souls that have been lost," he rasped. A faded purple aura grew in front of them and gradually took on a humanoid shape. The shape became more detailed and solid as the seconds passed until the full form of a suit of dark purple armor trimmed in gold was complete. A dark shadow crept along the ground and slid up inside the armor and pushed out again in the places the head and hands would be. The extensions formed into two three-digit hands and a smooth, elongated head. No face appeared except for two narrow red eyes.

"Okay, that's really creepy," Téa shuddered. Yugi said nothing though. His eyes were trained determinately on their antagonist.

"You humans are unfamiliar with the true magic of the Shadow Realm, so these will suffice for our game," Shadow told them. His hand waved and Kaiba Corp duel disks appeared on their arms. At the same time, Shadow's left gauntlet morphed into its own version of a duel disk. "And now we will duel, two against one. But even so, don't think the odds are in your favor."

"No. Leave Téa out of this. Duel only me," Yugi said boldly.

"Yugi, let me help," Téa begged softly. "I know I'm not nearly as good as you or Brian, but my soul is on the line too. And the sooner we finish this guy off, the sooner we can get out of here."

"Téa…" Yugi tried to talk her down. He could see Téa's will in her eyes, however, and realized that she wouldn't back down so easily. "Alright. Just be careful. I don't want to lose you in the shadows."

"Pathetic humans," Shadow grumbled. "Just make your move so I can send you into oblivion!"

"Fine then!" Yugi said as he drew his first card. _Not a bad hand, but still not the greatest._ "I'll set these two cards face down, then summon Skilled White Magician in attack mode!" Yugi's white robed monster appeared and tapped its staff on the ground in a ready position. "And now I'll end my turn and shift the duel over to Téa."

"What?" Téa murmured, momentarily forgetting she was in the duel as well. "Oh! Right!" She drew her card then looked her hand over carefully. _What do I do? I'm no good at this! If I mess up Yugi's strategy we're done for!_

"Come on, Téa. Take your turn," Yugi's kind voice broke into her thoughts. She looked at him expecting to see him glaring at her for taking so long. Instead, his eyes radiated encouragement.

_Yugi uses spellcaster monsters. So maybe this can help him…_ "I summon Gemini Elf in attack mode!" Téa's twin elves appeared, flew around each other, then floated back to back next to Yugi's Magician. "I also set this face down and that's all."

"Not a bad start for you, kids," Shadow hissed. He drew then seemed to glare at his cards. "But these pathetic cards will never do. Time to start over, Card Destruction!"

Téa's jaw dropped and she looked at her hand sadly. They weren't her best cards, but they still might have helped. Reluctantly, she folded her hand and placed it in the graveyard slot in her duel disk. Yugi, on the other hand, grinned. "Thanks to your spell card, my Skilled White Magician gains one spell counter," he spoke up.

"No Matter," Shadow replied. "I get five new cards. Ah, this is much better. I set these two face down, as well as a monster face down. And now it's little Yugi's turn again."

Yugi drew and frowned at his hand. _Two powerful monsters but no way to get them out yet. I guess I'll just have to use this for now._ "I summon Skilled Dark Magician!" Yugi's second Magician appeared, this one the exact opposite of his first. It held its staff horizontally in front of it. _He only has one monster. I can clear it out now, hit him for some heavy damage, then Téa can do even more._ Yugi and Téa looked at each other momentarily and nodded to one another, apparently thinking the same thing. "Now I'll attack your face down monster! Skilled White Magician, attack with White Magic Purge!"

Yugi's Magician raised its staff. The tip glowed with a white light, then sent several orbs streaming towards Shadow's face down monster. The monster appeared for only a second before it was engulfed in the attack. "Why thank you, Yugi," Shadow laughed. "When you destroyed my Mystic Tomato, its effect activated. It allows me to summon a Dark attribute monster in its place. And my choice is another Mystic Tomato!"

"That's fine with me," Yugi told him calmly. "Your monster is summoned in attack position, meaning my other Magician can destroy that too, but also take some of your life points with it. Skilled Dark Magician, attack with Dark Magic Purge!"

The second Magician attacked the same way as the first, with the exception that Skilled Dark Magician attacked with a deep violet ray. Shadow took 500 damage to his life points, but simply laughed it off. "Again you activated Mystic Tomato's effect. And now I'll summon yet another Mystic Tomato!" he informed them.

"Very well," Yugi replied calmly. _I need to keep an eye on Téa's turn carefully. I destroyed his monsters easily and it didn't even faze him. I need to figure out exactly what he's up to before he can complete his task._ "I end my turn there."

"My turn now!" Téa announced. She scanned her cards and an idea came to her. "Alright, watch this! I summon Fire Princess in attack mode!" There was a burst of fire on the field, but it soon cleared to reveal Téa's monster in the spot. "Next, I activate Dian Keto the Cure Master! This card gives me an additional 1000 life points, free of charge. Not only that, but it also gives Yugi's Magicians one more spell counter each as well as activates Fire Princess's effect. Whenever I gain life points, she drains you of 500 of yours!" Fire Princess raised her staff which glowed in flame. She pointed it at Shadow then released the energy. Fire danced around Shadow for a moment as his life points dropped to 7000. "For my next move, I'll attack your Mystic Tomato with Gemini Elf! Go, Gemini Double Radiation!" Téa's elves each formed its own orb of energy and launched their attacks simultaneously. The twin forces combined on impact and blew Shadow's monster away, along with 500 of his life points. "That's been three Mystic Tomatoes that you played so you're all out. You'll have to summon something else…if you can."

"Alright, Téa!" Yugi cheered. "That was a great move!" Téa turned to him and gave him a thumbs up, but Shadow merely laughed at them.

"My Mystic Tomatoes may be gone, but you've only put them right where I wanted them," he laughed. "I could have stopped your attacks several times, but I chose not to. And now you'll see why!" A yellow glow appeared on the field and from it emerged a humanoid monster in tattered robes and gold gauntlets. "My Chaos Necromancer will be your downfall!"

"How do you figure that?" Yugi asked. "Your monster has no attack power!"

"That's true, but my Necromancer doesn't attack itself," Shadow explained. "Instead, it uses its undead servant to do its work for it." With Shadow's words, Chaos Necromancer's finger tips released strands of light and pulled a zombie from the ground. It was made up of different parts of the monsters in Shadow's graveyard. "See this creature it controls? It gains 300 attack power for every monster in my graveyard."

"I don't know where you learned to count, but 900 attack isn't enough to beat any of our monsters," Téa informed him.

"How pathetic!" Shadow cackled back. "What do you think I was doing with my first move, picking flowers? No, I discarded five cards, all of which were monsters. That gives my Necromancer, not 900, but 2100 attack points!"

Téa gasped and looked at her Fire Princess, the only monster she had left to attack with. 1300 attack wasn't nearly enough to defeat the Chaos Necromancer. "I set one card face down and end my turn."

"This will come in handy later," Shadow commented when he drew. "But for now, Chaos Necromancer, obliterate that Fire Princess!" Like a puppet master controlling a puppet, Shadow's monster twitched its fingers and sent the controlled zombie at Téa's Princess. Mere moments before it struck, however, three blue-robed maidens appeared around Fire Princess.

"My trap card, Waboku, protects my monsters and my life points for one turn," Téa proclaimed proudly.

"Very well. I'll simply destroy you on my next turn," Shadow told her.

"Don't worry, Téa, I'll turn this duel back in our favor," Yugi told her as he drew his next card. Yugi flinched as he suddenly ate his words. _And how am I supposed to turn it around with a hand like this? I'll have to rely on my face down cards for now._ "I pass this turn."

"Wait, Yugi! You're just going to pass?" Téa cried out in shock.

"Sorry, Téa. It's all I can do for the moment," Yugi replied apologetically. "Just go ahead and take your turn."

Téa shook her head slowly. She seemed to be doing better than Yugi in this duel, and that wasn't good. Her strongest monster was already on the field and it was already outclassed. _Wait, what was it that Yugi and Joey always said? Attack points aren't everything or something like that?_ Her gaze shifted to her Fire Princess then to her hand. _Maybe I can use Fire Princess's effect to beat him. No, that would make things too easy. But maybe I can use her to stall for time until Yugi can do something._ "Alright, before I draw, I activate my face down card, Solemn Wishes. This gives me 500 life points every time I draw a card. So now I'll start my turn by drawing a card. That gives me 500 life points and activates Fire Princess's effect which reduces your life points by 500." Once again, Fire Princess raised her staff and swarmed Shadow with her flames. "Now, I'll set this monster face down, change Gemini Elf and Fire Princess to defense mode, and set one more card face down. And that's all for this turn."

"Seems like your luck is rather low today," Shadow observed. "I expected as much from the girl, but such a duel coming from the former vessel of the pharaoh is rather disappointing."

"You know about that!?" Yugi asked in shock.

"Of course I do, as does my master," Shadow told him.

"So who is your master?" Yugi questioned.

"That information is of no concern to you," Shadow laughed. "You'll be losing your soul pretty soon, remember? Let's continue the duel shall we?" Shadow looked over his cards after he drew. "I'll set this monster face down. And now I'll finish what I started last turn. Chaos Necromancer, destroy that Fire Princess now!"

"You failed last time and you'll fail again," Téa told him. "I activate Waboku!"

"You're only delaying the inevitable," Shadow growled as he ended his turn.

Yugi's next card surprised him. _Millennium Power! This is the card Brian gave to me. Let's see if I can make this work._ "You'd better pay attention, Shadow, because my next move will make your head spin. First, I'll activate Monster Reborn to bring back my Magician's Valkyria. Before she comes back though, I'll use my face down Serial Spell card to duplicate Monster Reborn's effect at the cost of 1000 life points. This time I choose to revive the Mystical Elf in Téa's graveyard. Now that I've activated two spell cards, all of the spell counters on my Skilled Magicians are now active, but I'll get to that later. For my next card, I'll need your help, Téa."

"My help?" came Téa's confused reply. "Well, alright, but I don't know what you want me to do."

"You don't need to do anything, Téa. I just need your permission," Yugi told her. Téa nodded slowly and Yugi continued. "I activate the Black Magic Ritual. I need to tribute monsters of level 8 or more, so I'll use my Magician's Valkyria and Téa's Gemini Elf to summon the Magician of Black Chaos! Next, I'll tribute my Skilled Magicians to summon Buster Blader and Dark Magician from my deck! Don't think I'm done yet! Now, I sacrifice Mystical Elf to summon Dark Magician Girl! Thanks to her effect, she gains 300 attack from the Magician of Black Chaos that I discarded when you used Card Destruction. One card left. This one was given to me a short while ago by a good friend. I activate Millennium Power to increase the power of my three Magicians by 1000!"

Téa watched as images of the eight Millennium Items appeared around Yugi's monsters. They floated to the ground in a circle and the same ritual symbol that was drawn on the floor at Kaiba Corp when Yami left appeared and cast a yellow glow around Magician of Black Chaos, Dark Magician, and Dark Magician Girl. The sight of it seemed to lift Téa's heart. Not only had Yugi made a powerful move in order to save their souls, but Brian had helped out as well.

"Because I activated Millennium Power this turn, I can't attack so it's Téa's turn now," Yugi finished.

"Now that it's my turn, I draw a card and gain 500 life points while you lose 500," Téaannounced. _Alright, Yugi made a great move, but I'll be defenseless after my monsters are gone. Gift of the Mystical Elf? That would give me 2400 more life points with this number of monsters. 12400 life points is pretty high…_ "Wait, I should have 10000 life points right now, why do I only have 9000?"

"I have 9000 as well," Yugi said, suddenly concerned about Téa's discovery. "I paid 1000 on my last turn, I should have 7000."

"You haven't figured it out yet?" Shadow asked, almost stupefied. "You're dueling as a team so your life points are shared. When one of you loses, you both lose!"

"Oh no, now he's just going to go for me," Téa murmured. "I'm holding you back, Yugi."

"Don't think like that Téa!" Yugi told her. "Thanks to your trap and spell cards, our life points are higher than normal!"

"Oh, yeah, that's right," she said to herself. "I'll just keep going then! I set one card face down and end my turn."

"Now then…" Shadow said as he drew his card. "This will be interesting. I sacrifice my Chaos Necromancer to summon Patrician of Darkness!" Shadow's Necromancer vanished and in its place stood a white haired vampire in black armor. "That's all for my turn."

"My turn now," Yugi informed him. _He sacrificed his Necromancer for a weaker monster, but why? It must have some ability that makes it better than Chaos Necromancer. This Ritual Raven card that I just drew won't help me find the answer so I'll just have to attack and hope for the best._ "Let's see how you handle this. Magician of Black Chaos, attack his Patrician of Darkness with Chaos Scepter Blast!"

"Excellent, now you'll witness my new monster's ability first hand!" Shadow proclaimed. The orb of magic that the Magician of Black Chaos had attacked with suddenly changed trajectory and went straight for Shadow's face down monster. The attack exploded on contact and a billowing cloud of smoke rose from where the monster was. "Your attack has failed."

"You seem to forget that I have four monsters on the field," Yugi laughed. "Not only that, but they also have more than enough attack points to wipe out your life points completely! Dark Magician Girl, attack with Dark Burning Magic!" Yugi's second monster attacked with a pink beam of light that went straight at Patrician of Darkness.

"You didn't pay attention last time did you, Yugi?" Shadow laughed. Dark Magician Girl's attack suddenly veered to the side to where the last attack had gone. "Not to mention that you didn't even bother to ask what monster you attacked instead."

"Alright, so what monster did I attack?" Yugi asked curiously. Shadow swept his hand across the field as the smoke cleared to reveal skeletal creature in a purple robe and carrying a scythe. "What is that thing!?"

"This is my unbeatable defense, Spirit Reaper," Shadow replied.

"No! Not Spirit Reaper!" Yugi exclaimed.

"So what's the deal with that monster, Yugi?" Téa asked.

"Spirit Reaper is a monster that can't be destroyed in battle at all," Yugi explained. "He's right, too. Because Patrician of Darkness chooses our attacks for us, they'll all be deflected at Spirit Reaper. It really is a perfect defense."

"So what are we supposed to do?" she asked in response.

"We'll have to figure something out, but until then, go ahead and take your turn," Yugi told her.

"If you say so," Téa said as she drew her next card. As she did, she and Yugi gained 500 life points while Shadow lost 500. "Now, I'll set a monster face down, then activate a trap card called Gift of the Mystical Elf. This gives me and Yugi 300 life points for each monster on the field. I count nine monsters so that's 2700 life points for us, giving us a total of 12,200. Then, I'll set another card face down and end there."

"You should have destroyed me when you had the chance, kids," Shadow laughed after he drew his next card. "Now I hold in my hand a creature of absolute darkness. But first, let's do some damage to your defenses. Patrician of Darkness, attack Téa's face down monster with Shadow Wave!" Shadow's monster held out one hand and a black wave of energy surged towards one of Téa's two face down monsters. Cure Mermaid appeared for only a second before being torn apart. "Now, Spirit Reaper will wipe out the other one! Attack with Scythe Slash!" Spirit Reaper charged the other monster and a monster that looked a lot like squirrel was cut in half.

"You've destroyed my Nimble Momonga!" Téa announced. "When it is destroyed I gain 1000 life points. So you now lose 500 from Fire Princess. Now that that's over, I can set two more Nimble Momongas on the field. Looks like we're back to where we started."

"That's what you think," Shadow cackled. "It's now time to summon the instrument of your demise! I sacrifice Patrician of Darkness and Spirit Reaper to call forth the unstoppable creature of darkness known as Yubel!" The monster appeared wrapped in its wings. Slowly, the wings unfolded to reveal a humanoid figure in a fetal position. Once the wings were at full wingspan, the body itself unfolded. To finish, Yubel's eyes opened, one a golden yellow, the other a bright aquamarine. Suddenly, a third eye opened sideways on its forehead. The third eye looked directly at Téa making her cry out in shock and cover her mouth with one hand while the other clutched at her heart. Yugi, on the other hand, was able to shake off the feeling, having faced off against creatures such as the Winged Dragon of Ra in the past.

"Téa, don't worry, we'll beat it," Yugi tried to console her. Téa gave no response, however, and only trembled in fear. "It's my move now and it doesn't have any attack or defense points. See? It's no threat at all."

"That's where you're wrong, little Yugi," Shadow laughed. "When your monsters attack, your life points will be wiped out."

"Alright, then I won't attack," Yugi told him.

"You don't have a choice!" Shadow yelled. "I activate a trap card called Battle Mania! This forces all of your monsters into attack position for the turn as well as forces them to attack. From what I can see, Yubel is your only attack target. Also, the combined attack powers of all four of your monsters add up to your exact amount of life points! So now, Yugi's monsters, attack Yubel now!"

"No! Stop!" Yugi called out in vain to his monsters as they rushed forward to attack. All four of them struck Yubel but nothing happened for a moment. Then after Yugi's monsters had returned to their starting positions, Yubel's third eye released a beam of black light that struck Yugi in the chest.

Shadow laughed maniacally as Yugi dropped to his knees. But something wasn't right. "Why haven't the monsters disappeared? The duel is over! I won!"

"No, you didn't…" Téa spoke up softly. She was on her knees with tears streaming down her face. Her finger was held over a button on her duel disk that activated spell and trap cards. "I activated Numinous Healer before our life points hit zero. It gave us an extra 1000. I hope I saved us Yugi…"

"Téa…you did great…" Yugi told her weakly.

"NO! How dare you!?" Shadow hissed at his opponents. Before anyone could take action, two black vortexes appeared, one under Téa and one under Yugi. "What's going on now? What did you do?"

"Téa?" Yugi asked quietly. She didn't respond. She had her eyes forced shut and was unaware of what was happening.

Much to his dismay, Shadow's victims faded away into the vortexes below them. "No…" he rasped into the shadows. "The master is going to be very displeased…"

* * *

**End of Chapter Notes**

HOLY COW! That was a tough duel. Not only in the sense of the duel itself, but also to write. It took a lot more work than I thought it would. And what about those vortexes at the end, huh? I know what they are, but Yugi, Téa, and Shadow don't. Perhaps another character does? Well, for right now, you know them as PLOT DEVICES. Anyway, let's just hope the next chapter doesn't take too long for me to do.


End file.
